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9.15.6 Instruction Prefixes

Instruction prefixes are used to modify the following instruction. They are used to repeat string instructions, to provide section overrides, to perform bus lock operations, and to change operand and address sizes. (Most instructions that normally operate on 32-bit operands will use 16-bit operands if the instruction has an “operand size” prefix.) Instruction prefixes are best written on the same line as the instruction they act upon. For example, the ‘scas’ (scan string) instruction is repeated with:

             repne scas %es:(%edi),%al

You may also place prefixes on the lines immediately preceding the instruction, but this circumvents checks that as does with prefixes, and will not work with all prefixes.

Here is a list of instruction prefixes: